Greg Carothers is headed back to the NFL.

The former Capital and University of Washington standout signed a contract to play for the Buffalo Bills last week.

Carothers, 6-foot-2, 245 pounds, is slated to play linebacker and contribute on special teams for Buffalo, who finished the season with a 5-11 record.

It will be his third NFL team over the past two years. He was previously released by the Arizona Cardinals and San Francisco 49ers.

Carothers also played for the Amsterdam Admirals of NFL Europe. Buffalo has indicated they will not send him back to the European league.

"The nice thing about it is that it gives Greg a chance to really get to know the team and the defense," said Chris Gittings, Carothers' agent from Hometown Sports Management. "Because he is not going to Europe, he will get to participate in all minicamps."

The length of the NFL Europe season kept Carothers from attending all of the Cardinals minicamps. An NFL rule also prevented Carothers from attending San Francisco's mini camps until he graduated from Washington in late June last year.

"You have a month to try to prove yourself and the special teams is already set," Carothers said.

He is slated to attend Buffalo's mini camp in March.

"Hopefully, I can crack their special teams, because that is what you need to do," he said. "That is kind of an unfortunate and fortunate thing because they led the league in special teams."

The Bills are in flux as head coach Mike Mularkey stepped down Thursday night. They also recently hired 80-year old Marv Levy as their general manager. However, Carothers doesn't think that will have any impact upon his situation.

"I will be there when they (the new coach) will be showing up," he said. "They won't have any preconceptions."

Gittings said Carothers will be able to help out the Bills if he gets some playing time at linebacker.

"The biggest thing Greg brings to any defense is his toughness," Gittings said. "He is a tough guy and playing linebacker in the NFL is a tough business."

Whatever his role, Carothers said he is happy to be playing in the United States in front of rabid fans -- even if it is going to be chilly in late December.

"It is nice for me," he said. "I like playing in the cold and I hate playing in the heat. It's fun to play in front of fans like that. That is football to me."